HIGHLIGHTS OF HELSINKI (3.5 HRS)
This panoramic driving tour provides the definitive overall view of Finland's capital. It starts at the harbor and follows a coastal road past Embassy Park, an open-air market, and expansive Senate Square, dominated by an elegant Lutheran Cathedral. (Its steep steps are where director Warren Beatty shot scenes for his film "Reds," substituting Helsinki for St. Petersburg.)
Your drive then continues down the chic Esplanadi, a boulevard lined with designer shops, and along Mannerheim Street, Helsinki's main thoroughfare. Its landmarks include the imposing Parliament Building, the National Museum, and Finlandia Hall, a concert hall designed by renowned Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. Further along, you will see the stadium that hosted the 1952 Olympics, the new Opera House on Töölönlahti Bay, and the highly unusual Rock Church, an underground house of worship blasted out of native granite and capped with a copper dome.
Lastly, at Sibelius Park, you will stop at the amazing, stainless steel tube monument to the great Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. At the end of the tour, you may return to ship or remain downtown to explore on your own.
